Rocks respawn debate

Hi Clare,
This has probably been asked before but can you help settle a debate.

Can you please confirm that small rocks do not respawn or “wash up” on the shore line.

I personally don’t think they do, but I wish they would give the appearance they do respawn by having them wash up from the sea to the shore.

I believe I have seen rocks… er, “a rock,” respawn in one very specific instance…

Maybe someone can test this because I don’t have the patience…

I could swear I had gathered ALL the stones on an island. Like any future minded castaway, I used several of those stones I used to craft a fire ring. At some point later on, I decided that was a crappy spot for the fire ring and I broke it to get my resources back. Well, when I broke it, only 2 stones were returned because I was far from a master craftsman. Fast forward to me returning from a venture to a neighboring island, and what would you know - there’s a rock sitting right in the middle of my “hub”. I know I didn’t leave it there, so I’ve always suspected that if you lose a previously gathered material when you break down something you have crafted, that material could potentially respawn where you originally found it.

To the OP question, I can’t confirm this 100% because I’m not a developer, but I can say with 99% certainty that rocks do NOT simply respawn or wash up on shore. If a rock you used for your water still doesn’t drop when you break that water still, however, there is a chance that that specific rock, the one that vanished, might respawn.